Russian army creates new reconnaissance and assault units to defeat Ukrainian fortified positions in new offensive operations, reports Izvestiathe oldest daily newspaper in Russia.
Russian soldiersPhoto: Konstantin Mihalchevskiy / Sputnik / Profimedia
According to the pro-Kremlin newspaper, these new units “were designed to storm fortifications and conduct reconnaissance operations in the immediate rear of the enemy,” and they were to be incorporated into combined arms armies and a newly created new army corps.
The failure of the Russian military to adhere to its own military doctrine which states that offensive operations must be conducted in combined arms attacks that include elements of mechanized infantry, tanks, artillery, aviation, engineer corps, etc. is considered by experts as one of the main reasons why the “special military operation” launched by Vladimir Putin last year did not go according to plan.
A Russian defense ministry source told Izvestia that recruitment for the new units had already begun, with the Russian newspaper noting that their creation was inspired by the experience of the Northern Military District, which had trouble breaking through the Ukrainian army’s dense defense lines from Donbass.
The new units would be thoroughly trained before being sent to the front
Izvestia also notes the new units “will include assault troops designed to break through the enemy’s line defenses, as well as reconnaissance units capable of tactical depth operations.”
Russian media sources say that the new units will be equipped with tanks, light armored vehicles, artillery, as well as a wide range of drones.
“The personnel of the assault detachments will be trained to fight in narrow spaces – trenches, buildings, concrete and wooden bunkers – and their skills are not inferior to special forces soldiers,” Izvestia also notes, according to independent researcher Chris Owen, who made the Twitter a summary of the report published by the Russian daily.
Colonel Valeri Yuriev, president of the Union of Russian Airborne Troops, told Izvestia that the war in Ukraine “showed the need to have specialized units to storm fortifications.”
“There were many problems in the initial phase (of the war) due to the fact that the reconnaissance units were not used for the purpose for which they were created, but as assault troops. Many high-class specialists have been lost because of this,” he added.
Russian army has run out of prisoners used as “cannon fodder”
In fact, the British Ministry of Defense has been writing for its part since May last year about the issue of the Russian airborne troops, noting that they were at the center of some of the biggest failures recorded up to that time by the invasion army due to the use them in roles that would normally have fallen to mechanized infantry units.
Later, with the entry of the Wagner mercenaries into the theater of operations, the Russian military began to rely on prisoners recruited from prisons for assault operations carried out by notorious units due to the huge losses suffered, often in seemingly pointless attacks.
However, it would appear that the Russian military has now begun to run out of prisoners used in such missions, as the Wagner mercenaries had announced back in February that they had stopped recruiting from Russian prisons and penal colonies.
Izvestia notes that the new assault units “will be officially constituted not only from ex-convicts, but also (mobilized men), soldiers who signed contracts and volunteers.”
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